Senior Engineering Leader – Quality (QA Ownership)
Role Overview
This role is for a Senior Engineering - Leader who owns Quality across a large engineering organization. You are not running a traditional QA function—you are responsible for embedding quality into how 250 engineers build, test, and ship software.
You will drive an automation-first, AI-enabled quality strategy, ensuring teams own quality end-to-end while maintaining a high bar for reliability, performance, and customer experience.
You are expected to challenge engineers, product managers, and senior stakeholders when quality is at risk. You do not trade quality for speed—you enable both.
You are expected to be on the tools and lead by example!
What You’ll Own
Quality as an Engineering Discipline
Make quality a core engineering responsibility, not a downstream QA activity
Embed testing into design, development, and deployment workflows
Drive a strong “shift-left” culture across all teams
Define what “good quality” looks like and ensure it is consistently met
Automation & AI-Driven Testing
Establish automation as the default across all layers (unit, API, integration, E2E)
Drive adoption of AI-assisted testing (test generation, flakiness detection, intelligent coverage)
Ensure all tests are integrated into CI/CD pipelines with fast feedback loops
Continuously improve coverage, reliability, and execution speed at scale
Engineering Leadership & Standards
Set and enforce quality standards, test strategies, and release criteria
Define and track key metrics (defect leakage, coverage, MTTR, pipeline health)
Own quality gates and block releases when standards are not met
Lead root cause analysis and systemic improvements
Influencing & Driving Accountability
Work directly with senior engineers and tech leads to improve quality practices
Push back on delivery pressure when it compromises quality
Hold teams accountable for the quality of what they ship
Partner with Product to ensure clear, testable requirements
Building Capability (Not Dependency)
Build and lead a small, high-impact group of SDETs / Quality Engineers where needed
Focus on enablement, tooling, and frameworks—not manual testing capacity
Coach teams to own testing independently and quality outcomes
What Success Looks Like
Teams fully own quality with minimal reliance on manual QA
High automation coverage across all critical paths
Fast, reliable CI/CD pipelines with a strong test signal
Reduced production defects and faster recovery when issues occur
Engineers proactively prioritizing quality without external enforcement
Why This Role Matters
This role is critical to scaling engineering without sacrificing quality. You will shape how hundreds of engineers think about testing, automation, and ownership—moving the organization away from QA as a gate and toward quality as a built-in capability.
Requirements
Requirements
Experience
8–12+ years in software engineering, with strong exposure to testing and quality
Proven experience as an Engineering Manager in a scaling organization
Track record of improving quality across multiple teams (not just within one team)
Experience operating in modern Agile / DevOps environments
Technical Strength
Strong background in software engineering (not just QA)
Deep understanding of test strategies across the stack
Hands-on experience with test automation frameworks and CI/CD systems
Practical exposure to AI-driven testing tools and approaches
Familiarity with distributed systems, micro services, and cloud environments
Leadership & Mindset
High standards and unwillingness to compromise on quality
Comfortable saying “no” to senior engineers and stakeholders when needed
Lead by example on the tools and grow your own timber with your team
Strong ownership mindset—you see quality as your responsibility, not someone else’s
Ability to influence without authority across many teams
Pragmatic and outcome-focused—you balance speed and quality effectively
Nice to Have
Experience transforming a QA function into an engineering-led quality model
Background working in high-growth or scaling tech organizations
Exposure to performance, security, and reliability engineering practices
